


Defeat

by Elvendork



Category: Sherlock (TV), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: Gen, Post A Scandal in Belgravia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-23
Updated: 2013-03-23
Packaged: 2017-12-06 06:42:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 221
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/732590
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elvendork/pseuds/Elvendork
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Irene ponders her own motives for sending that last text.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Defeat

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so this is only my second ever attempt at writing Irene because after the first one I discovered I actually quite enjoyed it.
> 
> Be warned, the idea for this literally ocurred to me for the first time about half an hour ago so there haven't been many proof-reads. (Usually stories sit on my laptop for months before I ever get round to posting them). It was going to be a drabble but was slightly too long so rather than edit bits out I just decided to pad it into a 221B.

_Goodbye Mr Holmes._

Later, Irene wonders why she sent that last text. It hadn’t occurred to her to think about it at the time – she had after all had other things on her mind, namely her imminent death.

But afterwards, it puzzles her.

The immediate and obvious answer is sentiment; distasteful, but not impossible. She has already proven she is not immune to it.

Perhaps she had simply wanted someone to know what had happened to her; she hadn’t wanted to die anonymously and alone thousands of miles from home with not a single soul to mourn her.

There is also the possibility – probability – that she had wanted Sherlock in particular to know because it was his fault; she had wanted him to know what he had sent her to after giving up the code. She had wanted him to feel _guilty_. One last revenge; one last move in their subtle, intoxicating dance.

Most likely it was a combination of all these things, and more besides.

It takes a long time before she accepts that there might have been another, unpleasant but inescapable, reason for her actions. 

One final truth that she will never fully admit even to herself: It had been an admission of defeat.

She is Irene Adler. She is _The_ Woman. And she has, at last, been beaten.


End file.
